Zotero is a free, open-source reference management tool. Use Zotero to store, manage, and cite bibliographic references for your research and assignments, such as books, articles, and websites.
Zotero allows you to grab sources from OneSearch, databases, and websites; organize those sources; take notes on them; and automatically cite them in your writing. It also has a host of other features dedicated to professional networking and collaboration.
As open-source software, Zotero is supported entirely by users, is compatible with most operating systems, and is highly customizable via a host of user-made tools and add-ons.
Save sources to your Zotero library from the Zotero app, or from your browser using the Zotero extension (aka, the Zotero Connector). In the desktop app you can add items automatically by uploading a file or by an identifier (ISBN, DOI, PMID, and more), or manually by selecting an item type and filling in the information yourself. From your web browser, you can add any item using the Zotero extension including articles from a database, the library, or a publishers website, and websites with a snapshot attachment.
A Zotero library featuring different types of saved sources.
Zotero can create citations in all major citation styles, including APA 7th edition. Remember that automatically generated citations can have mistakes from odd capitalizations, abbreviations, or additional punctuation. Be sure to check over your citations for errors.
Zotero can automatically insert properly formatted citations and bibliographies into documents.
Organize and categorize your Zotero library using tags, collections, and notes. Collaborate with shared group collections.
Access your Zotero library (all the sources you have saved) in the desktop app. If you create an account, you can also access your library in the web browser version of Zotero. You can view all your citations online, and there is limited free cloud storage for attached documents.
Remember to check auto-generated citations for accuracy using our citation guides. Sometimes capitalization, abbreviations, or punctuation can come out incorrectly due to the information found by the generator.
